AUBURN HILLS – The majority of Cranbrook-Kingswood’s players that took the field Thursday night know all too well how difficult it is to defeat the same side three times in a season.

Last fall, the Cranes lost to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s twice in the regular season, then defeated the Eaglets 3-0 for a district championship.

This year Cranbrook won both games prior to the postseason, and its players were all too aware of how hard it’d be to avoid falling victim to that identical pattern with the two sides matched up at the same stage of the postseason for the second year in a row.

“The people that were here last year, which is most of us, we knew what we were feeling last year was a ton of anger, a ton of grit coming into this game, and last year we ended up winning,” Cranbrook senior Paul Lee said. “We knew they were going to come in with the same intensity, and that we had to play really, really well to come up with the win.”

The Cranes got that elusive third win over St. Mary’s Thursday night at Avondale High School, winning 1-0 for their third consecutive district title.

It marked new territory, though, for first-year head coach Jacob Nunner, who before playing at Michigan was familiar to being between the sticks in the CHSL at Warren De La Salle.

“It’s fantastic,” Nunner said. “An unbelievable feeling. This school has been so welcoming. I’m surrounded by great people, I have a great AD, fantastic coaching staff and players. We’ve been working. Props to these boys, they deserved it. Whether in the gym, on the field, in the film room, they’ve been working hard and it’s just nice to see all the work pay off into something tangible.”

In a match full of opportunities born out of set pieces, it was fitting that the lone ball to cross the line came from one. With 18:07 left in the opening half, Cranbrook won a long free kick that may have taken a deflection off an opposing player after being served in by Lee and couldn’t be kept from going in despite an outstretched effort by St. Mary’s goalkeeper Mason Lanfear.

“We rehearse a lot of different types of set pieces in training, so that one, to see it executed in training and then executed here, it was fantastic to see,” Nunner said. “You want it whipped and driven in, and obviously when you put service into the box, sometimes bad things happen. I think one of their defenders maybe mishit it. We needed it. It was big for our momentum.”

Added Lee, “I just tried to hit it in a dangerous area. I didn’t even see what happened; I thought my teammate scored it.”

St. Mary’s came out direct and in control of possession the first 10 minutes before both teams began to carve out chances as the half wore on. Lanfear had to come far off his line and withstood heavy contact to deny one attack, then the Eaglets produced a nervy moment from a corner kick just several minutes before Cranbrook got its goal.

The Eaglets were perhaps unlucky not to come away level at intermission with their looks in the last two minutes, one of which included Gab Richer’s pass from near the end line that flashed across the goalmouth but didn’t connect with a teammate.

“I thought we had a good game plan, stuck to the game plan,” St. Mary’s head coach Keith Jeffrey said. “Our work rate was good. We knew we had to match their intensity because that’s a team that’s well-coached and plays with intensity. And we created a lot actually. I thought we were unlucky to be down 1-0 at half, but at the end of the day, sometimes that’s the way that goes.

“We knew they’re very organized. They’ve got a great center back in Paul. (Senior Milo Kiezun’s) very effective, he’s the nucleus for them. We wanted to make it difficult on them, then try to hit some dangerous balls in … We tried to (makes changes and) give them a different look, made some adjustments, and they made some adjustments. Again, I thought we had chances, corners and free kicks. I thought we could hit a few more diagonal balls in the  box, but they found a way to defend and get balls out.”

After a number of big moments in those first 40 minutes, Cranbrook managed to subdue the Eaglets for much of the second half. The most favorable chance came in the final few minutes when again Lanfear was called into action and gave a shot attempt a right-handed punch while elevated, then had to fend off the continued attack when he hit the ground to give the Eaglets a look at tying the match on the other end, but St. Mary’s attack never got in for any sort of grade-A opportunity before time ran out.

Photo gallery of Cranbrook vs. OLSM in Division 2 boys soccer district championship action

St. Mary's, who defeated Holly and Waterford Kettering both by scores of 2-1 to reach Thursday's final, finishes the season with a record of 9-11.

"I think our team was very dangerous, very competitive," Jeffrey said. "You take away the record -- a lot of the games we lost in the last, like, five minutes of the game, very unlucky again. But the team competed, showed up every day. I've got a lot of returners. We're still young, goalie's a freshman, we'll be returning two captains. The future's bright, man."

Cranbrook defeated Avondale and Brother Rice to get to Thursday's district final. The Cranes (10-5-1) now get a few days off to prepare for fifth-ranked Mason next Wednesday in Goodrich.

"We're looking forward to it," Nunner said. "We'll be up for it."

 

Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood scored off a set piece in the opening half, the difference for the Cranes in their 1-0 district championship victory over Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024 in Auburn Hills.

WEST BLOOMFIELD – For a little over a quarter to start Thursday night’s game, West Bloomfield played well enough and clean enough to hang with Oxford.

Eventually, some combination of Luke Johnson and penalties proved to be too much for the Lakers.

The Oxford senior running back rushed for over 200 yards, found the end zone three times and the Wildcats defeated West Bloomfield 38-14 to secure themselves at least a share of an OAA Red championship.

“I said (after last week’s win) that West Bloomfield isn’t going to know what’s going to hit ’em, and that’s what happened today,” Johnson said.

It was an evening of contrasting milestones for the two programs. For Oxford, it marks the program’s first league title since joining the conference from the Flint Metro League in 2010.

“Yeah, it means a lot because this team hasn’t done it ever, so to be the first team, to have this squad do it together, I knew from the beginning that we were special and that we could get it done,” Johnson said.

Meanwhile, Thursday’s loss to the Wildcats marked the Lakers’ most lopsided defeat to a league opponent since a 41-6 playoff defeat to Southfield A&T on Nov. 4, 2016, and their largest margin of defeat in the regular season since losing 28-0 to Farmington Hills Harrison earlier that same season.

That’s a drastically different picture than the one West Bloomfield could have painted with a win, which would have provided the Lakers a shot at the league title depending on the outcome between Clarkston and Lake Orion Friday night.

“Through the ups and downs, we were really hoping that we’d come out with a win today and had a chance if Lake Orion beat Clarkston and everybody in the league would be 2-2, that would have been kind of cool,” West Bloomfield head coach Zach Hilbers said. “But we didn’t do our part, and that’s on us.”

Both teams delivered upon the promise of an evenly matched game early on. Johnson capped off Oxford’s opening drive with a touchdown from one yard out, then Beau Jackson moved West Bloomfield downfield on its corresponding drive, which finished when Jamal Shakespeare took a five-yard designed keeper out of an empty backfield in to make it 7-7.

West Bloomfield’s defense also managed to halt the WIldcats when a direct snap to Johnson on fourth down near midfield came up short, forcing a turnover on downs, but that’s when mistakes began to chip away at the Lakers’ opportunities. A 29-yard TD pass from Jackson to Jaiden Allos was wiped out for illegal block in the back. Later, on the same set of downs, Jackson’s 25-yard pass to Elisha Durham beat the secondary for a score, but it was also called back, this time for a holding call.

“Killer for sure,” Hilbers said. “We had two touchdowns (taken) off the board, which, you never know. We didn’t do a good job of stopping their runs, so I’m not gonna sit here and say I know we would have won, but we definitely had momentum. We felt like we were trading drives with them for a period, got a big stop on fourth down wit ha chance to take control of the game, and we really shot ourselves in the foot with that.”

Aided by several penalties against West Bloomfield, who never made up those points on their own drive, Oxford (5-2, 3-1 OAA Red) mostly ran the ball before a five-yard TD pass from Jack Hendrix to Andrew Barrett made it 14-7 with just under five minutes to go in the half.

Hunter Ganey recorded a sack on West Bloomfield’s next drive, and when an attempt while trying to evade another sack resulted in a penalty for a throw to an ineligible receiver, the Lakers were forced to punt from deep in their own territory. Rather than create some breathing room, the punt got off just barely before Drew Cady arrived to block it, but it only went to the Lakers’ 11-yard line.

Johnson, who rushed for almost 150 yards before intermission, needed just two carries to hit pay dirt, making it 21-7 with 1:57 left before halftime.

He wasn’t done.

West Bloomfield (3-4, 1-3) committed multiple penalties on the opening drive of the second half, and after the Lakers’ punt, Oxford’s bell-cow back went 33 yards on the first play of the drive, a handful more the next play, then stiff-armed a defender on a 23-yard rushing score, his third of the evening, making it 28-7 with 8:54 remaining in the third.

Oxford tacked on a field goal by Drew Cady, then got the ball back when a fumble following a Lakers’ reception was recovered by Eli Carpenter at Oxford’s 44-yard line to end the third quarter. The Wildcats later added their final TD with 6:40 to go when Hendrix evaded pressure and hit Jake Champagne for an 18-yard score.

The Lakers avoided costly flags and got a consolation score with Josh Tate’s four-yard run with 3:32 left in the game.

That marked the end to a dominating night for Johnson and his blockers.

“We challenged our offensive line this week in practice, and they responded,” Oxford head coach Zach Line said. “You watch our first drive, and we can pound the ball down the field. Without our run game, nothing else works, so I was proud of the way they showed up today.”

Photo gallery of Oxford vs. West Bloomfield in OAA Red football action

"The O-line, bless their souls, I'm gonna have to get them a little treat after this -- maybe some donuts, Kit-Kats -- they did their job to perfection. They work very hard every day in practice, I'm very close with all them, and I'm super blessed they can do their job and I can do mine ... It's not just me at the end of the day. I'm just a product of my O-line."

West Bloomfield closes out the regular season at Birmingham Seaholm, then Roseville.

"We've got to pick up a win the next couple weeks to make sure we're playing in the playoffs," Hilbers said. "If we get there, figure things out, I think we've got some talent and a chance to do pretty well, but we've got to make sure we're getting there first."

With Clarkston at 2-1 as the only other one-loss team in the OAA Red, a Wolves' win Friday means a split with the Wildcats for the league title. If Lake Orion defeats Clarkston, Oxford captures the league outright.

LAKE ORION – Farmington Hills Mercy’s swimmers weren’t even born when the school’s previous streak of consecutive Oakland County meet wins began.

Saturday was continued evidence of 2022’s aberration, though, as the Marlins’ current bunch proved to be as talented as those who came before when they lapped the competition by over 100 points for yet another first-place finish.

In the past two decades, only Adams has been able to knock Mercy off its perch when the Highlanders defeated the Marlins by 28 points several seasons ago, though they were right back on top last year to start another wave of dominance.

So it’s back to business as usual, and when you dominate like the Marlins do – they finished with 363 points, 120 ahead of runners-up Huron Valley United – setting some different markers is required.

Mercy coach Mike Venos said that executing what’s practiced was an initial goal, but second to that is having a good time, even if doing so seems like treading water when you win with the frequency that his program does.

“If you couldn’t tell, we were joking around,” Venos said. “These girls know how to swim relaxed. One of the things that we tell them all the time is with the tradition of Mercy, people look at us. We don’t have to worry about anybody else, so let’s just take care of what we need to take care of. We call it ‘swimming in our own lane.’ When you can do that, good things are gonna happen.”

Returning all but a few from last year’s group that won not only the county meet but the Division 2 state title, Mercy racked up the medals, including four that came from first-place finishes.

A newcomer, freshman Ella Hafner, finished ahead of junior teammate Violet Schwartz to win the 200 freestyle (1:55.97), and Hafner also grabbed first in the 500 freestyle (5:11.71).

Hafner was joined by sophomores Avery Tack and Campbell Shore, along with senior Mackenzie Conway for the Marlins team that took first in the 200 freestyle relay (1:36.31). To cap the day off, the team of Tack, Shore, Hafner and sophomore Leah Groves outpaced the competition in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:32.01.

Even when Mercy wasn’t topping the proverbial podium, events like the 200 IM where Tack, Shore and Hafner all ended in the top-five were proof of excellence.

“Our focus (for the season) is definitely league or states, but I think what makes this meet so special is the really high energy from our teammates,” said Mercy senior Katie Schwab, who took third in the 100 butterfly. “It’s that encouragement, and having such good competitors to help push us in the pool. This is definitely one of the meets where a lot of good things happen and there’s a lot of fast times, but it’s all because of our training and the support of our teammates.”

When asked how winning the county meet can breed confidence for the remainder of the season, fellow Marlins senior Lauren Smith said, “We always just swim for the people who swam before us, swim for the ‘M’ on our cap. We just want to make sure we’re putting our best foot forward. That’s all we can do.”

Added Schwab, “I think it’s good place to have kind of that championship mentality, but at the same time, it’s more fun. We don’t try to worry too much, because this is just another opportunity to show our training instead of worrying too much about the other stuff.”

For the second year in a row, Huron Valley United came in second, though more comfortably than in 2023 when it was only 16 points ahead of West Bloomfield. This time, the gap between second and third – Seaholm and West Bloomfield tied for that honor – was 52 points. The Maples and Lakers finished with 191.

Huron Valley United’s all-senior quartet of Elle Dameworth, Brooke Stec, Mya Hutchinson and Coral Hebert came second to Mercy in the 200 free relay, while the program also nabbed a bronze finish in the 400 free relay.

“This year, it met expectations,” Huron Valley United coach James Schuler said. “Last year, we ended up being the runners-up a little bit by surprise, so we came into the meet this time knowing we had the ability to do it again, and it was a great meet all the way through. Friday night, our divers were really awesome, so coming into swimming in first place, we knew we couldn’t beat Mercy, but it gave us a really good shot to be runners-up again.

“Our seniors, they’ve been a building block of our program the last four years, and they put us in a position where we could be one of the top teams in Oakland County. And then we’re hoping to carry our success on to be one of the top teams at the state finals in November.”

Individually, the talents of West Bloomfield junior Elizabeth Eichbrecht were on display yet again. She paired with Bryn Cusack, Piper Smith and Jessica Conkey to win the 200 medley relay (1:47.66) to begin Saturday’s festivities, but that was just the start.

Eichbrecht, who already has multiple state championships and OAA records to her name, scooped another feat by finishing the 200 IM in 2:02.92, beating the record set by Waterford United’s Miranda Tucker in 2013 by a tenth of a second. She also took first in the 100 butterfly with a mark of 55.07.

The assessment from Eichbrecht of her performance in the record-breaking event was drenched in humility. “I mean, yeah, my best time’s a 2:01, but it was still pretty much a good time,” she said. “(This meet) was just to see where I’m at. We’re just kind of going and obviously my main focus is states, so just trying to see what we can do. (I was just aiming) to swim my best, keep improving.”

In other first-place finishes Saturday, Bloomfield Hills sophomore Bailey Robinson won both the 50 (23.71) and the 100 (50.94) free, Country Day sophomore Quinn Norlander took the 100 backstroke (56.89), and Rochester Adams senior Sadie Rogers led the way in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.74). Also, Oxford senior Tristan Krajcarski was the winner of Friday’s diving event.

Photo gallery from the 2024 Oakland County Girls Swimming and Diving Championship

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TEAM SCORES: 1. Farmington Hills Mercy, 363. 2. Huron Valley United, 243. 3. (tie) Birmingham Seaholm/West Bloomfield, 191. 5. Rochester, 151. 5. Bloomfield Hills, 112. 7. Novi, 108. 8. Berkley, 106. 9. Rochester Adams, 104. 10. Lake Orion, 96. 11. South Lyon, 92. 12. Birmingham Groves, 90. 13. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood, 86. 14. South Lyon East, 69. 15. Detroit Country Day, 67. 16. Walled Lake Northern, 59. 17. Royal Oak, 46. 18. Farmington, 45. 19. Stoney Creek, 23. 20. North Farmington, 22. 21. Oxford, 20. 22. Troy, 14. 23. Madison Heights Lamphere, 12. 24. Birmingham Marian, 10. 25. Pontiad Notre Dame Prep, 3. 26. Troy Athens, 2.

200 MEDLEY RELAY: 1. West Bloomfield (Bryn Cusack, Piper Smith, Elizabeth Eichbrecht, Jessica Conkey), 1:47.66. 2. Rochester, 1:49.36. 3. Birmingham Seaholm, 1:50.30. 4. Farmington Hills Mercy, 1:51.07. 5. Rochester Adams, 1:51.60. 6. South Lyon East, 1:52.69. 7. Birmingham Groves, 1:52.73. 8. Huron Valley United, 1:52.92. 9. Berkley, 1:53.00. 10. Detroit Country Day, 1:53.11.

200 FREESTYLE: 1. Ella Hafner, Farmington Hills Mercy, 1:55.97. 2. Violet Schwartz, Farmington Hills Mercy, 1:56.74. 3. Mya Hutchinson, Huron Valley United, 1:57.65. 4. Abby Stanley, Birmingham Seaholm, 1:58.03. 5. Gianna Perazza, Lake Orion, 1:58.90. 6. Noelle Schneider, Birmingham Seaholm, 1:58.95. 7. Vanessa Mchale, Novi, 1:59.03. 8. Skyler Jansen, Birmingham Seaholm, 1:59.43. 9. Julie Castro Vela, Rochester, 1:59.78. 10. Annabelle Thompson, Huron Valley United, 1:59.91.

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY: 1. Elizabeth Eichbrecht, West Bloomfield, 2:02.92. 2. Sadie Rogers, Rochester Adams, 2:06.44. 3. Avery Tack, Farmington Hills Mercy, 2:07.98. 4. Campbell Shore, Farmington Hills Mercy, 2:10.68. 5. Clare Hafner, Farmington Hills Mercy, 2:12.02. 6. Kassidy Collins, Royal Oak, 2:12.03. 7. Annika Cho, Farmington, 2:12.21. 8. Quinn Norlander, Detroit Country Day, 2:12.31. 9. Mia Mracna, Berkley, 2:12.41. 10. Hailey Garvey, South Lyon, 2:13.87.

50 FREESTYLE: 1. Bailey Robinson, Bloomfield Hills, 23.71. 2. Elle Damesworth, Huron Valley United, 23.90. 3. Emma Klotz, South Lyon, 24.01. 4. Maddie Collins, Berkley, 24.33. 5. Leah Graves, Farmington Hills Mercy, 24.42. 6. Taylor Robinson, Rochester, 24.57. 7. Mackenzie Conway, Farmington Hills Mercy, 24.72. 8. Coral Hebert, Huron Valley United, 24.73. 9. Peyton Wasielewski, South Lyon East, 25.04. 10. Sydney Visser, Farmington, 25.14.

1-METER DIVING: 1. Tristan Krajcarski, Oxford, 401.65. 2. Lola Beer, Huron Valley United, 345.65. 3. Kennedy Foote, Huron Valley United, 318.95. 4. Jamie VIncent, West Bloomfield, 312.05. 5. Leah Huntoon, Huron Valley United, 294.35. 6. Taelyn Friese, Novi, 293.75. 7. Lilly Decapite, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood, 283.25. 8. Mia Mason, South Lyon, 283.05. 9. Sara Vartanian, Novi, 281.80. 10. Sophia D'Orazio, Farmington Hills Mercy, 279.25.

100 BUTTERFLY: 1. Elizabeth Eichbrecht, West Bloomfield, 55.07. 2. Emma Klotz, South Lyon, 57.00. 3. Katie Schwab, Farmington Hills Mercy, 57.91. 4. Bryn Cusack, West Bloomfield, 58.69. 5. Violet Schwartz, Farmington Hills Mercy, 58.76. 6. Kailey Bachmann, Bloomfield Hills, 58.90. 7. Maddie Collins, Berkley, 59.00. 8. Sydney Vanhowe, Rochester, 59.17. 9. Maddie Dicks, North Farmington, 59.39. 10. Avery Malanowski, Stoney Creek, 59.61.

100 FREESTYLE: 1. Bailey Robinson, Bloomfield Hills, 50.94. 2. Leah Greaves, Farmington Hills Mercy, 52.44. 3. Elle Dameworth, Huron Valley United, 52.45. 4. Campbell Shore, Farmington Hills Mercy, 52.56. 5. Annabelle Thompson, Huron Valley United, 54.20. 6. Briana Hernandez, Lake Orion, 51.54. 7. Abby Stanley, Birmingham Seaholm, 54.86. 8. Avery Anderson, Birmingham Seaholm, 54.89. 9. Maeve Goymerac, Stoney Creek, 55.10. 10. Kelsey Milz, Madison Heights Lamphere, 55.26.

500 FREESTYLE: 1. Ella Hafner, Farmingotn Hills Mercy, 5:11.71. 2. Mya Hutchinson, Huron Valley United, 5:13.24. 3. Skyler Jansen, Birmingham Sehaolm, 5:15.27. 4. Jordan Laba, Rochester Adams, 5:16.87. 5. Julie Castro Vela, Rochester, 5:18.76. 6. Molly Zuska, Walled Lake Northern, 5:19.16. 7. Sydney Meyer, Farmington Hills Mercy, 5:20.16. 8. Alexandra Moga, West Bloomfield, 5:20.62. 9. Ashley Gilme, Birmingham Groves, 5:21.57. 10. Josie Behnke, Walled Lake Northern, 5:21.68.

200 FREESTYLE RELAY: 1. Farmington Hills Mercy (Campbell Shore, Mackenzie Conway, Ella Hafner, Avery Tack), 1:36.31. 2. Huron Valley United, 1:38.27. 3. Rochester, 1:40.55. 4. Berkley, 1:42.30. 5. Lake Orion, 1:42.39. 6. South Lyon, 1:42.49. 7. South Lyon East, 1:42.58. 8. Detroit Country Day, 1:43.56. 9. Birmingham Groves, 1:43.60. Troy, 1:44.64.

100 BACKSTROKE: 1. Quinn Norlander, Detroit Country Day, 56.89. 2. Avery Anderson, Birmingham Seaholm, 57.93. 3. Bryn Cusack, West Bloomfield, 58.08. 4. Hazel Strain, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood, 58.23. 5. Annika Cho, Farmington, 59.28. 6. Kailey Bachmann, Bloomfield Hills, 59.82. 7. Taylor Robinson, Rochester, 1:00.2. 8. Karina Urm, Novi, 1:00.47. 9. Peyton Wasielewski, South Lyon East, 1:00.51. 10. Leah Isaksen, Birmingham Seaholm, 1:01.00.

100 BREASTSTROKE: 1. Sadie Rogers, Rochester Adams, 1:04.74. 2. Mia Mracna, Berkley, 1:05.71. 3. Avery Tack, Farmington Hills Mercy, 1:05.79. 4. Kassidy Collins, Royal Oak, 1:07.43. 5. Gabi Rapetti, Rochester, 1:07.90. 6. Piper Smith, West Bloomfield, 1:08.53. 7. Valentina Cavaliere, Birmingham Seaholm, 1:08.75. 8. (tie) Clare Hafner, Farmington Hills Mercy, 1:08.82. 8. (tie) Hailey Garvey, South Lyon, 1:08.82. 8. (tie) Ally O'Brien, Birmingham Groves, 1:08.82.

400 FREESTYLE RELAY: 1. Farmington Hills Mercy (Leah Greaves, Campbell Shore, Ella Hafner, Avery Tack), 3:32.01. 2. West Bloomfield, 3:35.18. Huron Valley United, 3:35.28. 4. Birmingham Seaholm, 3:40.47. 5. Lake Orion, 3:43.15. 6. Bloomfield Hills, 3:43.35. 7. Novi, 3:45.30. 8. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood, 3:45.40. 9. Rochester Adams, 3:45.41. 10. Royal Oak, 3:47.36.

 

ROYAL OAK – The rain may have stopped pouring around intermission, but the sun didn’t exactly shine on Royal Oak Shrine when play resumed in the second half of Tuesday night’s CHSL Cardinal championship.

Following a scoreless opening half, an unfortunate own goal broke the deadlock just 62 seconds after play resumed, a pivotal moment that helped allow Detroit Cristo Rey to defeat the host Knights, 2-0.

Wolves junior Alejandro Garita played a square ball from the left wing aimed for teammate Hugo Romero, but a Knights defender redirected Garita’s effort and turned it into an unlucky yet effective chip shot over Shrine goalkeeper Sean Murphy to give Cristo Rey the lead.

“The own goal killed us,” Knights head coach Mark Soma said. “There were no really good opportunities either way, we were just kind of battling in the middle, and that own goal just put a dagger in our momentum.

“We don’t necessarily have to change for one goal getting scored against us. The weather obviously wasn’t great the first half, so it’s a little rough to try and do anything real organized, but we didn’t do much different between the first and second half, we just didn’t get much in behind.”

Weathered could have just as well described the condition of Soma’s players coming into Tuesday’s title game that matched the No. 2 (Shrine) and 4 ranked teams in Division 4, neither of which had suffered a loss this season entering the night.

“We have four kids with walking pneumonia who weren’t here,” Soma said. “We had a game Saturday almost canceled because we literally had 12 people. We only had 14 today, so we’re literally missing five kids … We just didn’t play our best, didn’t play it as fast as we should have out of the back. They won a lot of battles — I mean, there were a lot of 50-50 balls they won — and a lot of easy turnovers by us. They played a good game.”

Operating with the lead, Cristo Rey padded it when Heriberto Salinas used a ball roll to his right, then got space with an abrupt take-on to his left before whipping in a shot with the same foot from wide of the box into the far corner of the net with 26:27 remaining, making it 2-0.

The Knights were unable to conjure up much else down the stretch to put the Wolves (11-0-1), who were making their first CHSL championship appearance in any sport, under fire.

It’s a credit to the Wolves considering the transformation Shrine has undergone from last season when the team finished 9-10-2. Last year, the Knights averaged 1.43 goals, but that mark has jumped dramatically this fall to 3.6 goals per game.

“Our attitudes are right this year,” Soma said. “Last year, we had a lot of inner-team arguing, a lot of moods.”

When asked what’s changed, Soma replied, “I think they’re listening. We had a year of yelling and screaming at them, basically, and (this year) we told them right from the beginning, ‘If you listen, we’ll win games, right?’ And they started buying in. Now they actually listen — you know, not all the time, because they’re teenagers — but it’s better. They don’t argue as much. It’s more fun for everybody. Our seniors and captains do a good job of trying to keep it up. We want to stress being positive with each other this year. It’s been good so far.”

Shrine (11-1-3) will host its own district and looks as though its biggest challenge therein may come from Roeper, ranked 15th in D4.

“We expect we’ll be there, and I’d expect they’ll be there,” Soma said. (Roeper coach Ed Sack) will have them prepped and ready for us, I’m sure. It’ll be fun, and maybe we’ll see these guys (Cristo Rey) again if we can get out of our district.”

Sam Stowe threw three of his four touchdown passes in the first quarter as Pontiac Notre Dame Prep defeated Detroit Country Day 42-6 Saturday afternoon to remain undefeated.

A 25-yard throw to Billy Collins got the Irish on the board initially, followed up by a 36-yard scoring pass to Joey DeCasas. A 56-yard TD pass to Collins in the final seconds of the opening quarter made it a 21-0 lead. Stowe went back to DeCasas in the third quarter for a 15-yard TD as well.

Drew Heimbuch and Roman Cherfoli added TD runs from inside the 5-yard line as ND Prep (5-0, No. 1 in D5) racked up around 400 yards of total offense. Defensively, DeCasas and Michael Wiebelhaus had interceptions to help quiet the Yellowjackets (2-3).

A trip to Reed City, ranked in the latest Division 6 Poll, is up next for ND Prep.

More football

NOVI 35, SALEM 28 >> The Wildcats trailed entering the fourth quarter before putting together a furious comeback in the final six minutes of Friday’s home contest.

Coming off the heels of Salem’s longest scoring drive of the night, Novi responded with an eight-play, 61-yard drive of its own capped off by a short Johnny Aurilia run, but a blocked extra point still left the Wildcats trailing 28-27 with 5:51 to go.

That extra point ended up not mattering. Novi (4-1) got the ball back and only took 42 seconds to score as Aurilia hooked up with Jaden Vondrasek for a 41-yard game-winning TD with 3:26 remaining.

Logan Ellison (11 yards) and Christian Gillings (24 yards) also caught first-half TD passes from Aurilia, who finished with 240 yards in the air and carried 15 times for 136 yards. Emilio Acosta picked off a pass by the Rocks (1-4) and Mario Miminllari led the Wildcat defense with 13 tackles in the victory.

No. 1 Groves stays unbeaten, clinches share of OAA White with win over Harper Woods

BRANDON 56, CLIO 12 >> Lance Briolat tossed a handful of touchdown passes as Brandon's offense piled up nearly 550 yards of total offense in Friday's landslide.

One out of every two of Briolat's completions finished with a temamate in the end zone, with Luke Hanson and Danny Protiva each hauling in a pair of TD catches. Hanson finished with 108 yards receiving, and he also rushed a handful of times for 69 yards and a ground score. Andrew Heurta and Sebastian Taylor also found the end zone.

Kurt Briolat led the Blackhawks (3-2) in tackles with seven while Ethan Yang and Luke Hanson both recorded a sack in the win.

Avondale defeats Ferndale 21-7 following conclusion of postponed game

SOUTH LYON 51, WALLED LAKE CENTRAL 16 >> The Vikings got on the board first with a field goal, but a short-distance rushing score followed by a play-action TD pass three minutes into the second quarter put the Lions ahead by two scores before WL Central (2-3) answered back to make it 13-10 with 1:41 left in the opening half.

It was all South Lyon from there as the Lions needed just over a minute of the third quarter to extend their lead back to two scores, and a fumble recovery by South Lyon less than 40 seconds after that led to a 1-yard TD run. The Lions (3-2) had a four-score lead just midway through the third in the win, which snapped a two-game losing streak.

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CLARKSTON 35, WEST BLOOMFIELD 20 >> It took a minute to get going, but Clarkston countered an early West Bloomfield field goal with a 56-yard score by Brady Beck on a screen pass from Alex Waszczenko. Kam Flowers provided an immediate response and fireworks with a 99-yard kickoff return TD in the final 30 seconds of the first quarter.

A Griffin Boman rushing score helped give the Wolves back the lead before halftime, and he found the end zone again in the third to put Clarkston (3-2) ahead by two scores.

Lukas Boman found the end zone several times for Clarkston to help seal the victory, though Elisha Dunham also hit paydirt for the Lakers (2-3) despite the defeat.

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OXFORD 28, ROCHESTER 10 >> Luke Johnson's outside run got the Wildcats (3-2) on the board first with 6:20 to go in the opening quarter in Rochester Hills. He took it 57 yards to the house later in the half, though the Falcons kicked a field goal as time expired.

Johnson caught a 14-yard TD pass on the other side of intermission to put Oxford ahead 21-3, and the Falcons (2-3) rushed for a score as time expired in the third, but couldn't get any closer.

Other scores

Berkley 14, Royal Oak 7

Birmingham Seaholm 14, Farmington 6

Lake Orion 28, Rochester Adams 25

Bloomfield Hills 19, Pontiac 6

Stoney Creek 17, Southfield A&T 0

Troy 31, Oak Park 6

North Farmington 14, Troy Athens 7

Milford 40, Walled Lake Northern 0

South Lyon East 20, Waterford Mott 7

Orchard Lake St. Mary's 64, Waterford Kettering 0

Royal Oak Shrine 14, Allen Park Cabrini 7

Birmingham Brother Rice 22, Toledo St. John's Jesuit (OH) 21

Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard 44, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood 12

Clarkston Everest Collegiate 63, Madison Heights Bishop Foley 6

Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes 35, Marine City Cardinal Mooney 26

Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest 42, Sterling Heights Parkway Christian 7

Flushing 60, Holly 0

Clawson 27, Warren Lincoln 18

Clintondale 44, Hazel Park 24

Madison Heights Madison 46, New Haven 6

Warren Fitzgerald 18, Madison Heights Lamphere 7

Pontiac Arts & Technology Academy 26, Southfield Bradford Academy 6

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you want to ensure your team's inclusion in the roundup, please email stats or a postgame summary to beverson@medianewsgroup.com.

BIRMINGHAM – Pass at your own risk on Birmingham Groves’ secondary.

The Falcons were ballhawks for the second game in a row, snaring three interceptions in Friday’s 28-12 home win over Harper Woods that also ensured them a share of the OAA White Division crown.

“I just think that’s the experience we have back there,” Groves head coach Brendan Flaherty said. “They’ve been there and done that, so they’re like coaches on the field. They do a good job of getting lined up in the right place, their field study is just incredible. I think it’s the positioning, you know, them knowing where to be and where the ball is going to be thrown.”

In last week’s 35-7 victory at Rochester, senior Teddy Abbot became the third player in MHSAA history to pick off three passes in a single quarter. Against the Pioneers (2-3, 1-1 OAA White), Abbot helped prevent points with an interception at Groves’ 4-yard line late in the first quarter, and ripped a desperation attempt out of the air on the final play of the first half as well.

“It brings a lot of juice,” Abbot said when asked about the energy those interceptions generate. “It gets the defense hype. Turnovers always good, and it gives the offense something to start with. The first one, you know, stop a score, get the offense some momentum for their drive.”

It’s not like opposing quarterbacks can freely attack the rest of the Falcons’ defensive backfield, either. Returning all-stater Chris Little, committed to Grand Valley State, is one behind Abbot with four on the season, and freshman Jordan Graham also got in on the action with an interception, taking it the other way 70 yards before being brought down on the final play of the game.

Ranked No. 1 in Division 2 in the latest AP poll, the Falcons (5-0, 3-0 OAA White), who came into the night allowing a meager 10 points per game, looked as if they might be en route to their first shutout of the year until Dakota Guerrant finally got loose inside the final two minutes of the third quarter. Guerrant, a top-100 sophomore receiver who also took plenty of snaps under center — he threw a game-winning TD pass in the last 15 seconds of Harper Woods’ win last week against Stoney Creek — was relatively limited until he started a Pioneers’ drive with a 12 yard run. The next play, he got loose on a run up the middle and went 75 yards for the score.

Guerrant also called his own number on a three-yard score with 2:45 remaining.

“He’s dangerous, man,” Flaherty said. “He just goes. Our whole thing was to try and cast a net, keep him wrapped up in that net and not give up any huge plays. Well, we gave up the long run there, and he’s just a dynamic player. It’s gonna be rough defending him for two more years.”

Asked whether Groves did a good job otherwise of limiting Guerrant, Flaherty hesitated, then responded, “Yeah, kind of. I don’t know. I lost like three years tonight I think (laughs). Um, I think the guys did a really good job, but he’s so slippery, so dangerous.”

Equally as dangerous was the Falcons’ rushing attack, which sprinkled in just enough through the air to keep the Pioneers off-balance. After neither team moved the sticks on its first drive, Groves made its first trip into the red zone with a 23-yard completion from quarterback Ryan Counts (8 of 10, 70 yards passing) to fellow senior Noah Sanders. Mario Campoy-Lovasco then carried it to the 8-yard line, and after that shook an arm tackle for a score that made it 6-0 with 3:28 left in the opening quarter following an extra point off the crossbar.

The Pioneers’ defense also deserves credit for either flat-out halting Groves, or bending but not breaking on other drives, but finally conceded another score late in the half when the Falcons used play-action on fourth-and-2 for a 10-yard TD pass from Counts to senior Noah Woods, and he completed to junior Carter Hdllaki (team-high five tackles) on the conversion to make it 14-0 with 3:26 to go in the opening half.

On a night where he was a nominee for Homecoming King, Sanders ruled the Falcons’ backfield. He finished with 110 yards on 16 carries and did plenty of heavy lifting on Groves’ third scoring drive, which culminated with a two-yard keeper by Counts that made it 21-0 with 7:13 left in the third.

Campoy-Lovasco, who finished with 83 yards on 21 carries, found the end zone for the second time on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 6:46 remaining to help put the game out of reach.

Photo gallery of Birmingham Groves vs. Harper Woods in OAA White football action

With the win, Groves guaranteed itself at least a share of a division title for the first time since running the OAA White table back in 2017 when the team reached the Class A semifinals. As every other White team already has at least one defeat, a Week 7 win over Southfield A&T would make the Falcons outright winners.

Though rival Seaholm (5-0) looms in the final game of the regular season, partially wrapping up the division so early means that fighting complacency now becomes a subplot for the undefeated Falcons.

"Yeah, so you've got to just keep dialing in and trying to get better," Flaherty said. "It sounds really trite, but we've just got to keep trying to get better, create a new standard every week. 'Okay, that's pretty good, but let's clean up these mistakes, let's figure it out.' Edit the mistakes, experience it, not let (them) happen again."

Harper Woods plays another White Division game next week against Southfield A&T, while Groves also remains home to take on a Lakes Valley Conference opponent in South Lyon (3-2).

TROY – Oak Park was going to be in for a long night if it couldn’t stop Troy Athens from repeatedly grinding out first downs with the ground attack like it did for a good portion of the first quarter of Friday’s game.

The Red Hawks marched all the way down to the 2-yard line and looked sure to cash in for their efforts. Oak Park, though, stiffened up, and on fourth down blocked a field goal to leave the home side empty-handed despite owning possession for over eight minutes to start.

Despite putting up points first, the drives for Athens’ wing-T offense weren’t quite so prolific after that, and Oak Park responded with all its points unanswered to collect a 24-16 road win over the Red Hawks.

Knights head coach Greg Carter didn’t hesitate when asked how often his team sees that style.

“Once a year,” Carter said. “They’re dominant and play extremely hard, so we knew that we had to be as physical as possible to match their physicality on every play, because they’re relentless. They come at you in waves. You know, I’ve been around so long that I remember we used to run it back in the day when I was at de Porres. It’s a tough offense to contain.”

Athens (1-2, 0-2 OAA Blue) didn’t piece together another series as cohesive as that until its final one, which came with the Red Hawks trailing by 16 and without the fortune of being able to deliberately drain clock. Senior Tom Gjelaj broke a tackle and got help from his lineman on fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line to cross the pylon, then junior quarterback Andrew Dunlap took in the conversion to make it 24-16 with 2:02 remaining.

The Red Hawks were flagged for illegal touching on the onsides kick attempt, but despite using their timeouts to force a fourth-and-3 with just under a minute to go, sophomore running back Ivaan Burrow chunked out an 11-yard gain to move the chains and and allow the Knights to kneel it out.

Even after failing to capitalize on the extended opening drive, Athens posted points before Oak Park thanks to a fumble recovery on fourth down following a botched punt attempt that gave the Red Hawks extremely favorable field position. Just 48 seconds into the second quarter, the Athens QB took it in himself from just a few feet out, and Anthony Dunlap ran in the conversion to put the home team ahead 8-0.

When the ensuing onside kick was recovered by the Red Hawks, they really appeared to be in the driver’s seat, but Oak Park responded with a big special teams play of its own when Rondre Austion returned Athens’ punt over 90 yards along the right sideline for a score. Officials initially threw a flag against the Knights that would have negated it, but eventually picked it up before Mike Jones ran in the 2-point try to tie it 8-8 with 8:31 left in the half.

“I was really indecisive whether I was going to get (the ball on the return) or not, but something told me I needed to go pick it up and go take it to the crib for my team,” Austion said. “I had to change the pace of the game for my team, that’s all it was.”

Able to stymy Athens’ offense again after that, Oak Park got the ball back and moved into striking distance on a 32-yard run by Marshawn Johnson to the Red Hawks’ 5-yard line, and Jones (13 carries, 98 yards) took it in the next play, then bounced it outside for the conversion that made it 16-8 with 3:24 on the clock.

Burrow picked off a pass to give Oak Park a chance to score yet again before heading into the lockers, but despite a 20-yard run the following snap by Knights quarterback Muhammad El-Mubarak, Athens’ pass defense forced several incompletions from the sophomore QB to keep it a one-score game at the half.

A fumble recovery by Athens’ Vadym Hladiy was one of the few notable plays in the third quarter as both teams’ offenses stalled, but Oak Park eventually compiled its own elongated drive that spanned into the fourth. It nearly sputtered on fourth-and-12 at the Red Hawks’ 24-yard line, but El-Mabarak found junior Nehemiah Black for a 16-yard completion that moved the sticks, and two plays later Dorian Bethel scored from five yards out when he was part of a push into the end zone that seemingly involved every player from both teams.

Jones rushed in the conversion for Oak Park’s final points with 7:32 to go.

Photo gallery of Oak Park at Troy Athens in OAA Blue football action

Regarding the adjustments Oak Park's defense made to tighten up following Athens' early success, Carter said, "We tried to put a little more pressure on them, sent our linebackers a little bit more, because (before that) we were sitting there waiting on them. We just tried to be a little bit more active, that's all. We didn't really change the way we were doing it, but I think we did it a little bit better."

The Knights, who defeated Athens 30-24 in overtime last season, improve to 2-1 on the season, including 1-1 in the OAA Blue. They'll next return home to face undefeated Seaholm.

Athens must return to the drawing board with a visit to Farmington on deck.

"We just need to be able to maintain drives," Athens head coach Tom Cook said. "We have tough kids that are willing to do the basic things right, and we need to make sure we can sustain drives and finish them to score points ... We've got to keep grinding. Tomorrow, everybody like, let's show up and let's turn this thing around for next week."

Troy Athens scored first, but Royal Oak answered with three touchdowns in a row to collect a 24-16 road win Friday, Sept. 13, 2024.